Too Old.

@hiddensquid Thank you 😊

@jay71 Thank you 😊.

@BigGyro09 That's great advice

@BigGyro09 never been in a real relationship either. i’m only 20 so it still feels so early but i look around and see all my friends and peers in relationships and it just sucks because i’m sick of holding out hope. just wish i could experience all the “normal” things but i guess it’s not going to be the same for everyone as you said

I met online* is what I meant to say, sorry about that. But I'm glad this advice helps

@worryywart This feeling of being behind never goes away for me and it's really frustrating. On the same side though, there's a ton of people like us that have just never had it happen before and are still waiting. I just try not to think about it, which is next to impossible when OCD exists

@BigGyro09 ahh makes sense! i’ve always been a bit nervous about meeting people online but now i’m thinking it might be the only way i can actually meet people like me since i live in the middle of nowhere😭 just don’t know how to navigate it at all

@BigGyro09 also i get what you mean about feeling behind everyone else. part of me is happy i wasn’t in a relationship before i figured out that it was ocd, the other part still really craves one because i just feel like it’d be more manageable with someone that could understand. i dunno i guess i have plenty of time to figure it out but still. sucks pretty bad

@worryywart I get that completely. It's a mixture of both for me. There's someone I know I have a crush on but I also know for a fact I'm not ready for relationships. I also don't know when that will change. As for meeting people online, yes, you definitely do have to be more careful when meeting others online, but there are also venues that should be present that has the main focus of socializing.

@worryywart And yeah I'm also glad I wasn't in a serious relationship back then because I know I would have messed that up really badly, even if it would have been experience. I think me not having the experience but the awareness is better for me

@BigGyro09 absolutely. i don’t want to fuck a relationship up because of my own issues. it’s good to grow and learn on your own but i also think it strengthens a relationship (platonic or romantic) when you’re able to learn and grow alongside someone else. and idk if i’m “ready” for a relationship of not yet. i’m honestly not even sure how i’d know if i was ready. a lot of people say you have to love yourself before you can love anyone else and whatnot but i just don’t know if that’s really possible for me. i’ve had crushes and stuff i’ve just never pursued them, i guess because of some other stuff that happened when i was younger that made me shy away from it. middle school boys are really mean lol. maybe all that and the insecurities around it have followed me up into adulthood. also when it comes to meeting people online (or just overall in general) idek where to start. i’ve thought about dating apps but those scare me too much. i also worry about ocd being a big issue in a relationship if i were to be in one with someone who doesn’t have it. there’s just so much to worry about.

@worryywart Yeah it just seems disingenuous to bring my issues into other people's lives. Won't do any good and now I'm making it someone else's problem when I don't need to. I guess we should take a lot of positivity and gratitude in the fact that we want to go about this responsibly and not just jump into scenarios with other people just for the sake of it. They do say that you have to love yourself A LOT. To that I say, we are trying to do that. I'm trying to read this gratitude list that I have and I've been trying to distance myself from bad habits, judgement, and mindlessness. I just won't know when that time will come, and frankly, I don't want to keep focusing on it, even if I can't help it. Crushes and anything related to sexuality is either unfamiliar to me or it makes me uncomfortable to some degree. It's just something I never felt confident with at all. I'm sure being honest with your future partner about OCD is something that is possible as long as they are caring and accepting of your boundaries and struggle with it. Dating apps I personally don't see a positive in, but that's just my opinion.

@BigGyro09 i agree, i think so many people get into relationships when they’re really not ready to and it only hurts everyone in the end. at the very least, we’re avoiding getting relationships when we’re too immature or “broken” (i hate that term but i don’t know how else to put it), just for the sake of saying you’re with someone or to fill a void. it’d feel selfish for me to do so. it still sucks to feel so lonely and undesirable, especially because we’re sort of pressured into the idea that we absolutely need to be in a relationship or it’s a failure on our part. but i think i’m also just a hopeless romantic so it’s hard to not constantly think about it. i actually have a gratitude list from forever ago in my room, i should probably read that again. it’s easy to forget about the actual good and stable things in your life when you’re so focused on what you don’t have. and i get what you mean about not feeling comfortable with anything romantic or sexual. for me it almost feels wrong for me to have those desires and like i shouldn’t even subject other people to them, like it’s perverse and gross on my part. i’m guessing that’s also related to a bunch of stuff i’ll have to unpack. i’ve only really thought about dating apps because i’m really bad at talking to people or going out and meeting them. i almost wish there was something like that for people like us because again i’d feel bad for subjecting a “normal” person to my issues. though i’m sure non-ocd people are in happy and successful relationships with ocd havers. idk maybe it’s all just accepting uncertainty like with ocd in general.

@Anonymous Thanks. Wow lol

@Anonymous~ Everything happens when it’s supposed to. Vera Wang didn’t even design her first dress until her 40s and Tolkien didn’t publish the lord of the rings until his early 60s! Everything you want in life is waiting for you and will be there, when you are ready for it. Have kindness for yourself❤️❤️❤️

@Anonymous Thank you 🙏🏻

@Dawn88 Thanks 😊

@ILikeMyself Thank you. 😊I can’t because I’m Catholic. That’s actually one of my other major ocd concerns. scrupulously.